A novel strategy to extract lunar mare KREEP-rich metal resources using a silicon collector

作     者：Chen Li Kuixian Wei Yang Li Wenhui Ma Yun Lei Han Yu Jianzhong Liu Chen Li;Kuixian Wei;Yang Li;Wenhui Ma;Yun Lei;Han Yu;Jianzhong Liu

作者机构：Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy EngineeringKunming University of Science and TechnologyKunming 650093China Center for Lunar and Planetary SciencesInstitute of GeochemistryChinese Academy of SciencesGuiyang 550081China National Engineering Laboratory for Vacuum MetallurgyKunming University of Science and TechnologyKunming 650093China 

出 版 物：《稀土学报:英文版》 (Journal of Rare Earths)

年 卷 期：2023年第41卷第9期

页      面：1429-1436,I0006页

核心收录：

学科分类：08[工学] 080502[工学-材料学] 0805[工学-材料科学与工程（可授工学、理学学位）] 0703[理学-化学] 

基　　金：supported by the Yunnan Outstanding Youth Science Foundation (202101AV070007) the Reserve Talents of Young and Middle-aged Academic and Technical Leaders in Yunnan Province (2018HB009) Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB 41000000) 

主　　题：Lunar rare earth elements In situ resource Utilization Lunar mare ilmenite Si reduction 

摘      要：The lunar mare potassium(K)-,rare-earth elements(REEs)-and phosphorous(P)-rich(KREEP-rich) region is a unique late-stage product of magma crystallization,in which ilmenite and incompatible elements have high grades,thus forming a giant natural *** extraction and purification of the high-value metal resources in the KREEP-rich region not only meet the construction needs of the lunar base but also solve the problem of resource scarcity on *** this study,photovoltaic elemental silicon(Si) was used as a collector to extract ilmenite resources,REEs,and nuclear energy elements from basalt in the lunar mare KREEP-rich region at 1873 *** on experimentation,the metals titanium(Ti)and iron(Fe) in the lunar mare ilmenite are found to be enriched and solidified in the form of Si-based *** contents of valuable incompatible elements in the KREEP-rich area are also found to be enriched and contained in the incompatible trace elements(ITEs) phase of the *** them,REEs(e.g.,cerium(Ce) and thulium(Tm)) and nuclear elements(e.g.,thorium(Th) and uranium(U)) are found to account for 82.61 wt% of the ITEs *** process provides a simple and feasible scheme for the insitu resource utilization(ISRU) of the lunar surface and is suitable for the extraction and enrichment of lunar metal resources.